A Home Bureau for Christinas 



*s^«^«-"^ ••'*> 



' jI Home Bureau, organized 

 -Hr ^"'l working, is the 

 ^ , -^ I Christmas gift the women 

 arc planning to present to Menard 

 county early in December. Check-up 

 meetings have been held, information 

 given out and only the finishing 

 touches are left. 



A reaching out for the resources 

 available in organization was one of 

 the explanations given by Mrs. Carl 

 Kirby of Tallula of how they hap- 

 pened to plan a Home Bureau. 



"If we achieve the type of a world 

 we want," said Mrs. Kirby, "we must 

 co-ordinate our influences. Through co- 



Menard County Home Bureau Ready 

 To Go, Others Are Organizing 



tension workers, came to talk at com- 

 munity meeting. Invitations were sent 

 to all Farm Bureau members" wives, 

 members of women's club, wives of Le- 

 gionnaires, band parents, and superin- 

 tendents of schools. Any one who 

 might have an interest in the move- 

 ment was asked to attend the meeting 

 held in Farm Bureau hall, Petersburg. 

 Later, another extension worker. 



"THEY CAME TO TALK AT 

 Left to right, the Misses Lulu Black, Anna Searl 



operative work in our churches, our 

 schools, and our homes, we can ac- 

 complish much." 



An active Farm Bureau in the 

 county interested some of the women. 

 Others followed the 4-H work with 

 interest. Still others reported work be- 

 ing done through Home Bureau in 

 neighboring counties. 



"Let's have a Home Bureau in our 

 county," said Mrs. Walter Culver to 

 Mrs. Kirby and Mrs. Emory Irwin one 

 day as they sat visiting over their 

 mending. And so it began. 



They wrote to Kathryn Van Aiken 

 Burns, State Leader in Extension work 

 at the University of Illinois, asking her 

 co-operation and what to do. Mrs. 

 Burns replied and attended a group 

 meeting with them. Later Mrs. Helen 

 Taylor Butner and Miss Lulu Black, ex- 



DECEMBER, 1936 



COMMUNITY MEETINGS" 



and Mary Louise Chase, University of Illinois. 



Miss Mary Louise Chase, came from 

 the University to tell the aims, qbjec- 

 tives and some of the accomplishments 

 of Home Bureau. From this group 

 of county women, Mrs. John Krei of 

 Greenview was elected temporary 

 chairman. Chairmen for each precinct 

 were appointed and membership 

 workers were selected. All those inter- 

 ested went home prepared to work 

 and talk. 



News spread over the county. Two 

 local papers in Petersburg, a Spring- 

 field and a Peoria paper carried stories 

 about the plans. The Farm Bureau 

 sent out notices, furnished news ar- 

 ticles, offered a meeting place and co- 

 operated Tn general. 



"We are glad to welcome a Home 

 Bureau organization," Farm Adviser 

 Lloyd Chalcraft said. "We feel they 



would help us and we are glad to 

 help them." 



With a farm population of 4,877 

 and a county population of around 

 10,000, a goal of 300 members didn't 

 seem too much. In mid-November 

 200 had signed. A few more check-up 

 meetings, a little more intensive work 

 from the precinct chairmen and the 

 Christmas present would be a reality. 

 "Ninety-four percent of the women 

 in America are in homes,"" Miss Anna 

 Searl, Assistant State Leader told the 

 women at one of their meetings. 

 "Home making is a profession. Home 

 Bureau is a professional organization 

 for homemakers." 



The three women who were instru- 

 mental in starting the movement in 

 Menard county live in farms. Mrs. 

 Culver, who now is serving as tem- 

 porary county chairman because of 

 the illness of Mrs. Krei, says she 

 always has lived on a farm." At the 

 University of Illinois however, she 

 studied chemistry and worked in soil 

 survey. Now, she would like more 

 work in Home Economics. Mrs. Kirby, 

 also, in college spent her time on 

 mathematics and languages. 



""Most of our problems now,"" said 

 Mrs. Irwin, '"have to do -with home- 

 making. The lessons presented in 

 Home Bureau should be a great help 

 to us.'" 



Menard county is not alone in setting 

 up a new Home Bureau. Nine other 

 counties are working on organization 

 plans. DeKalb county has set up town- 

 ship membership committees and is 

 training workers. Stark county, that 

 did some work during the depression, 

 is making an effort to start a home ad- 

 viser in that county -within the next 

 few months. Madison county, also 

 has in mind December for final organ- 

 ization. Women from Brown and 

 Schuyler counties, working for a joint 

 organization, have held several meet- 

 ings. Cass county is getting under 

 way with plans and already have a 

 sizeable number signed. Gallatin and 

 Marion counties have requested infor- 

 mation. Edgar county has tentative 

 (Cont. on Page 3i) 



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